Stocks Ended Sharply Lower, Oil Finished with a Modest Loss

U.S. stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday, with the Dow plunging more than 970 points, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting their biggest one-day drops in two weeks, as coronavirus concerns continued to weigh on investors. The Dow dropped 973.65 points, or 4.44%, to 20,943.51. The S&P 500 tumbled 114.09 points, or 4.41%, to 2,470.50. The Nasdaq Composite lost 339.52 points, or 4.41%, to 7,360.58.

Oil futures finished Wednesday with a modest loss, weighed down at the start of the month by U.S. crude supplies which were up for a 10th straight week. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery CL.1, 2.686% fell 17 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $20.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after dropping to as low as $19.90. June Brent crude BRNM20, 2.506% dropped $1.61, or 6.1%, to $24.74 a barrel.